Choosing the name.. Exo

When choosing a name for the company, Lenny and I literally went through hundreds of ideas. We wanted something to be short, sweet, easy to pronounce, and most importantly it had to embody what we were all about. After going through a seemingly endless number of ideas and about ready to take a break from the name finding for a while, I was talking to a friend Kody Kellom. I was describing how the titanium frame we developed rides in close to the middle of your back much like your spine. I continued with our philosophy of having the frame in the middle of the pack, with everything pivoting around it to allow the waist-belt and pack to move freely with your body, rather than binding into your hip flexors with every step. He interrupted me about mid-sentence and said why don’t you call it “Skeleton packs” and then followed up with “Exo-skeleton”. I immediately knew “Exo” was the name we had been searching for. It was perfect; short, sweet and memorable. To top it off, the very term “Exo” means “to be outside” in Greek. It was exactly what we were all about!

I know for Lenny and I personally, simply being outside in the mountains is what we look forward to almost more than the hunt itself. To be out in the middle of nowhere, miles from roads, hopefully miles away from other people, just us against nature and the elements trying to outwit our prey is our personal church. I’d be willing to bet that most of our fellow backcountry hunters feel much the same way. Most of us, if we are fortunate enough to tag out early in the season, among all the overwhelming feelings after killing an animal, also have a feeling of sadness that our hunt is over. I love this feeling because to me it just verifies that it’s not just about the hunt and the kill, but more basically it’s about being outside. Luckily enough we have hunting partners who are always willing to have us tag along and help call, glass, pack out etc.

So when I heard Kody say “Exo”, I immediately knew we found our company name. And, we may owe him a beer or two for it.